Real Madrid has officially opened the electoral process, after president Florentino Pérez announced on Tuesday that, instead of resigning, the club will hold new elections. Pérez, 79, has been president since 2006, and has won all five elections since 2009 without opposition. Now, any potential candidate has only nine days to prepare and submit their candidacy: the submission period is open between May 14 and May 23.
At the moment, the only other potential candidate who meets the requirements (including being a Real Madrid member for over 20 years and the accessibility of guarantees equivalent to 15% of the club's budget, at least €150 million from the estimated budget of over €1 billion) is 37-year-old businessman Enrique Riquelme, owner of a renewable energy company based in Mexico who already tried to run for president in 2021.
The night before the electoral process opened, Riquelme sent an open letter to Florentino Pérez where he asked more time to prepare his candidacy. Riquelme asks for "transparency" in the electoral process, with more time to calmly debate the future of the club and greater guarantees of participation for the members of the white club.
Pérez's first reaction, in an interview with LaSexta on Wednesday night, wasn't open to the idea. "A delay? When elections were called in the year 2000, I didn't ask for more time. I ran and I won", Pérez said of his first elections won. He resigned in 2006 after bad sporting results, but returned to the presidency in 2009.
